Rumor Patrol: Vin Diesel Could Appear In ‘Terminator 5′

Justin Lin’s revelation that he has discussed a fifth Terminator movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger certainly got fans riled up last week. So the potential involvement of the Fast and the Furious franchise helmer with Terminator 5 raises an interesting question: does that mean Lin’s pal and frequent leading man, Vin Diesel, could appear in the film too?

This is, of course, nothing more than preliminary talk and speculation since Terminator 5 with Lin as the director isn’t even a “thing” at this point. But still – would his Fast Five star be along for the ride (sorry, bad pun), if it happens?

Lin spoke with Moviehole about the matter and his answer was unsurprisingly non-committal:

“Vin’s been a really great partner on [the ‘Fast and the Furious’] franchise. We’ve talked about the mythology [of the Terminator series]… he’s a great guy and a great actor. I really like working with him so anything I do I usually talk to him about. Sometimes we even talk about going back and doing a little indy movie.”

The only “given” at this point, with respect to Terminator 5, seems to be that it’ll feature Schwarzenegger in some capacity – possibly playing the original human that the T-800 model Terminator was modeled on. Terminator: Salvation set the stage for future films to chronicle humanity’s war against Skynet post-Judgement Day, but it’s possible that the series could move away from the story of John Connor (as played by Christian Bale in Salvation) and focus on other characters in the Terminator universe.

Like Schwarzenegger in his prime as a movie star, Vin Diesel’s specialty is arguably that of mindless and over-the-top action flicks (see: xXx, The Chronicles of Riddick, or any of his Fast and the Furious movies). That’s not to say they all turn out to be successful popcorn flicks (Babylon A.D., anyone?), but Diesel makes for a solid action hero onscreen and he definitely has more than his share of fans. So the idea of him playing a role in Terminator 5 should sit well with a number of moviegoers.

The bigger issue right now is whether or not everyone really wants to see another Terminator movie. Most fans seem to fall into one of two camps in this regard: those that haven’t been all that impressed with the franchise since Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and are fine with it being laid to rest, and those who want to see Schwarzenegger back in the game – with an action genre specialist like Lin calling the shots on Terminator 5.

Whether or not a fifth Terminator movie will happen, regardless of demand, is a slightly different matter. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Salvation were both expensive ventures ($200 million cost for each), but they made enough worldwide in theaters alone to keep the franchise alive. So Terminator 5 still has a strong chance of actually being made.